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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Mere shadows

My friend Janette just got me hooked on a new (to me) series by Janette Oke. The series is placed at the turn of the 19th century (early 1900s...is that 20th century?) and describes the unique bond between two families, one of French descent and one of English descent. Circumstances between the families fostered a secret relationship between the two wives and through a long series of events including an Acadian expulsion, infant daughters were switched to save the life of one. Due to the expulsion, the daughters were never returned to their biological parents and each family raised the other's daughter thousands of miles away never knowing if their own daughter was even alive.

Fast forward 18 years and both daughters meet....when asked what her birth parents are like, Nicole responds, "Everything good about me, everything worthy, is just a faint shadow of who my parents are."

That brief sentence totally took my breath away. Have you ever thought about how your life reflects your upbringing? If you haven't I'm sure your parents have. I'm not at the stage where I have children, but as a teacher I'm always concerned about the behavior of my students while I am absent. If this is a concern that our earthy parents have, how much more is our heavenly father concerned about the message we communicate by the life we lead? We are the living bible. Some people may never read the bible but our lives can be open book to them. Whether you think about it or not, your attitude, demeanor, perspective, and choices all serve as reflections of the Lord we serve. While I can never make a complete list of the attributes of God I do know that God is love; it makes sense then that John 13:35 says the world will know we are His disciples by the love we have for one another.

Just like Nicole said I know that anything good or worthwhile in my life is a direct reflection of my heavenly father. If my life is only a shadow of God's goodness and love, how great, powerful and loving is God? While I am only a mere shadow, I pray that His reflection in my life is as bright, clear and unmistakeable as it can be.